The cost of this event is ridiculous if you only want to spend a day. They hype it as a bargain for…read morea 3 day event but to be honest, one day is more than enough. I personally find this Irish Fest boring and there's very little selection of vendors selling actual Irish cuisine or goods (mostly pizza or Mexican food along with other fried fair food and donuts). I have to go every year due to a family member loving it but I immediately start dreading the next year's event as soon as the current one is over. Also, you cannot make a fun family day, picnic style, of the event. No purses or coolers are allowed. Because I cannot digest fried junk food very well, I literally bake in the sun all day on an empty stomach. $35 for a day of torture!!! Ugh!

Love this event. Buy tickets in advance and have a weekend full of family friendly fun. Food and…read moredrinks available for purchase. No coolers or outside drinks allowed.non smoking event but a few always ruin the fun. Huge park area which means there is plenty of room for kids to run and play. Always a great time! Tons of live music as long as you like Irish you will love it. Being a chair or blanket or find a seat on the I comfy bleachers. Backpacks welcome but don't try and sneak anything in because they look. Lots to do and it is easily an all weekend event. Oh, wear your kilt.... Everyone is doing it!

I stopped in on my way through Waterloo. I haven't been to the museum since I was little. It is…read moredelightful. Just the right size for a short stop, yet packed with great information and insights. The displays and interactive activities are well done and good for all ages. Thank you for persevering all this history.

Good sized museum with plenty of information about local history and some science topics. One thing…read moreI really liked was all the different options for fun photo opportunities that are good for both children and adults. These are arranged on two separate floors that are fairly well spaced so that you have plenty of room to explore, even with other patrons inside the museum. The displays are done well, with plenty of artifacts shown in a realistic setting and well written explanations of what the visitor is looking at. Overall, a nice place to spend a few hours learning and exploring.

Working with Camille went very smoothly at the Waterloo Center for the Arts. We reserved the…read moreRotary Room for my daughter's graduation luncheon, and it was set-up as promised. I had table flower centerpieces delivered and they were kind enough to receive and put them on the tables. We did struggle to find the location of the room. as it did lack the signage that was anticipated. Overall, it was the perfect location for our gathering.

I got the opportunity to play on the River Loop the other night, as a part of Waterloo Center for…read morethe Arts! Wow what a beautiful place to see live music! It was hot but have no fear, there were beers, food, people rolling up on boats and people enjoying the sights and sounds of the city! The event was beautifully run and I enjoyed talking to Kent from the center for the arts about some of the other things they are doing there this summer including showing films and hosting more concerts! I didn't get the opportunity to go inside and check out the art museum so this is more a review of the River loop but man if's its half as cool on the inside as it was on the outside it will be 5 stars for sure!

This is a FREE museum in Waterloo and really well done. The informational movie (about 25 minutes)…read moreis well done and provides a great overview. There are several interactive exhibits and the story of John Deere will surprise many. Staff are very present and helpful. There is a large parking lot which is also free. It was about an hour stop and I really enjoyed it and learned a lot about the history, technology and farming.

Wonderful museum. Excellent displays and great historic information. Very in depth with…read moreinteractive displays. Great for kids or adults. And it's Free!

This is where my brother Scott and his bride had both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding…read morereception. And as I recall, it was potluck both times. Willow Run Country Club was a very pleasant and welcoming experience.

We took our two grandchildren, aged 3 and 5. They absolutely loved the kangaroos, chocolate milk…read moreand the ice cream that was included in the ticket price. They also enjoyed bottle feeding the calves, the cheese curds and wagyu beef sticks. The 5 year old even milked a cow! It was a very well run tour! They had tables set up with our names ready to wait for everyone to arrive. They also gave out crayons and sheets for the children to color. We then loaded up on a tractor drawn trolley to take us to the farm. Our large group was divided into two groups. 1/2 went to the kangaroos and the other 1/2 to the calves. We were given slices of bread to feed the kangaroos. It was fun for the adults too, lol! When then moved on to bottle feed the calves, then visit the heifers and then the milking room. We were provided with some very interesting facts as we went along. We then visited with their 2 one year old female kangaroos. Super cute! We loaded up on the trolley to return to the main building. There they provided us with a choice of whole milk or chocolate milk, plates of curds and beef sticks. They also had jars of heavy cream for us to make butter. 5-6 minutes of shaking and we had butter! We then were able choose from around 20 flavors of ice cream. Very delicious! We watched a video on the making of their products and had the chance to purchase items. This was the second time we had visited the dairy in the last 2 years. This was just as enjoyable as the first time. I highly recommend this for anyone with young children! Or even adults! We'll take the grands again in a couple of years. Thank you for a wonderful time Hansen family!

I visited Hansen's a couple of weeks ago with my boyfriend and his family. His parents said that we…read morewere going to a farm to milk a cow, so I decided to join them. When we got there, I wasn't sure what to expect. Everything looked okay, and we were lured by all the ice cream flavors, so I was not prepared for what was to come. We jumped on an open air vehicle to begin our tour. We stopped at the place where they have the cows all separated by age: calves, younger ones, and adults. We were first given the opportunity to feed the babies, which is when my horror began. I had the chance to feed a five-day old calf that was HORRIFIED. I didn't want to play into this game at first, but I overheard that the calf was being a brat; rather than allowing others to make it more scared, I decided to step in to bottle feed it. I learned that the cows are taken from their mothers at birth so they don't attach, and the tour guide had the nerve to tell is that their moms don't care. I get that this is standard practice at milk factories, but please don't insult our intelligence. Then we move on to the factory part, where we see the cows lined up and attached to the devices that are milking them. My horror grew. We learned there about the artificial insemination, got to see some cows not wanting to be herded in, and our tour guide saying they "should get over it," as it will be over in a few minutes. And of course, this is where the tour group is invited to milk one of the cows. I couldn't do it, but the rest of my group was happy to do so. I know that what I saw isn't likely even close to the horrors of the milking practices of most milk factories, but this was enough to make me want to cry. Then we moved on to another part of the farm, where the cows are kept in filthy and crowded conditions. We were told that they prefer to be in there and not roam because they don't feel safe roaming in pastures... what?! I couldn't do it anymore; I had to step away. Then they showed us their kangaroo collection. I don't know much about kangaroos, so nothing to say here about whether or not this was a happy situation. The kangaroos were just lying there looking bored or hot. The tour ended by us trying their ice cream, cheese curds, and butter (which they had us make). This part would have been fun, had I not been traumatized already. Again, I can imagine that this is the "nice" version of what happens in most milk factories, so thank you, Hansen's for giving me a glimpse.

Really lovely place. I've visited the gardens once but every Mother's Day weekend they have a…read moreplant sale. Pretty good selection. One year I picked up a lot of used clay pots for only a buck a piece. This year, they gave you a DIY tissue paper flower with every purchase. We used ours for Mother's Day decorations. Very friendly staff, too.

It's like walking around someone's backyard. For calling itself an arboretum, you'd think there'd…read morebe more trees, but it's mostly just lawn, next to a highway and corn fields.

Great place to go no matter what the weather is. Love that…read morethey let adults in the bounce houses I think I have more fun then the kids do!!!! Also it's a great place to have your kids birthday party they let you bring in any food and drinks that you like for no extra charge. The lady that runs the place also puts on princess shows sometimes that my daughter just loves:)

As awesome as it get's in Waterloo Iowa. Lots of big bounce houses, things to do for kids of all…read moreages. Inexpensive and tons of physical fun when the weather is either too hot or too cold.